Thursday, August 16, 2012

Meals and stuff

I've been quite inspired in the kitchen lately. It all started with my friend Amanda and her amazing culinary skills. I was so impressed with how effortless and easily she just whipped up these pretty amazing meals. She is one of those "I can cook anything as I long as there is a recipe to follow" gals. I am one of those "I've made it so many times that I don't need a recipe" gals. That causes me to get in a cooking rut. I cook the same things over and over and then I get bored with it. So, I came home from our MS/LA trip and sat down with my "Food" board on Pinterest. I found a free printable on Pinterest also that was a meal planning/grocery shopping lifesaver for me. I sat down last week and meal planned for the week, cut coupons then went grocery shopping. I've already made Cheesy Chicken Chili, Crockpot Lasgana and Roasted Chicken with fresh veggies. You can find all of those recipes on my Pinterest under Pins I've tried. It was my first time to ever roast a whole chicken. And, also my first time to use fresh Rosemary. It was really yummy and super easy.

One of my biggest issues with cooking is never knowing when Dan will be home. He has called me numerous times over the years to say he was walking to his car but then I wouldn't see him for over an hour later. He often gets calls as he his walking out or someone catches him in the parking lot. So, we are sitting at the table waiting and he never makes it. Then I end up frustrated because he hasn't called (he can't really interrupt a hurting person to call and I know that) or that my seemingly wonderful meal is cold and yucky by the time he arrives.

Now that we have two kids that need to eat around the same time each night, we've just had to make a decision that I will have dinner ready at the same time each night and if he can't make it home by then, we will fix a plate for him and we will go ahead and eat. As much as we desire to actually eat together as a family, that just isn't realistic always. So, we just adjust a little to do what works for us and allows him to still be available to church members that can't meet during the earlier parts of the day.

School starts back for Jonah next week so I'm trying to plan ahead for breakfast, lunches, after school snacks and dinners. Whew...I'm tired already! :-)